Instead of using excess energy to store compressed air in caves where it can be released as needed to generate electricity, a new design for CAES, SustainX, stores compressed air in pipes

SustainX takes a different tack: it uses compressed air as the energy storage medium, but holds the air in large pipes, the same used in natural gas pipelines. That means utilities or even commercial customers could place a storage device in a range of industrial locations, rather than only where there’s an underground formation available.